Research, Polls & White Papers

Executive Summary of Faculty Perceptions of Intercollegiate Athletics Survey. October, 2007.
In a national survey of more than 2,000 faculty members at universities with the country’s most visible athletic programs, a striking number of professors say they don’t know about and are disconnected from issues facing college sports. More than a third say they don’t know about many athletics program policies and practices, including the financial underpinnings of their campuses’ athletics programs. Furthermore, more than a third have no opinion about concerns raised by national faculty athletics reform groups. ...

Faculty Perceptions of Intercollegiate Athletics
The main goal of the Faculty Perceptions of Intercollegiate Athletics Survey is to examine professors’ beliefs about and satisfaction with intercollegiate athletics. The investigation also identifies faculty members’ primary concerns about intercollegiate athletics and gathers preliminary data on whether they would join campus-based initiatives aimed at ameliorating these concerns. Further, the survey assesses whether professors think such activities would lead to meaningful change on their campus.

Public Opinion Poll, Jan. 2006.
The Census-balanced and representative telephone poll of 502 adults among adults 18 years of age and older was conducted in December 2005 for the commission by Widmeyer Research and Polling of Washington, D.C. The margin of error for the poll is +/- 4.4%. Poll findings suggest the following:Americans believe college sports are like professional sports. ...

Public Opinion Poll, Dec. 2005.
A recent Census-balanced and representative telephone poll among 502 American adults completed in late December 2005 for the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics by Widmeyer Research and Polling of Washington, DC found that: Americans say the NCAA should “stay the course but remain diligent.” ...

Athletics Recruiting and Academic Values: Enhancing Transparency, Spreading Risk, and Improving Practice"Universities and even some colleges can seem to exist in different worlds from their athletics programs, particularly at institutions where some sports attract broad outside interest. Nevertheless, contexts and interests appear to diverge considerably more than they actually do." A paper from a Roundtable on Intercollegiate Athletics and Higher Education, University of Georgia Institute of Higher Education, Fall 2006.